Inner Lacing Shoes

ABSTRACT

A shoe, including: g) an upper, having an inside and an outside, and including a toe box, a heel part, the heel part having a top section and a bottom section, and a split throat, the split throat having two flaps one on either side of the split throat; h) a sole, having an arch position; i) two tightening levers, one tightening lever on either flap of the split throat; j) a first tube entering the top section of the heel part on a first side of the shoe, proceeding downward and forward along the inside of the upper to about the arch position, and crossing the shoe to a second side of the shoe; k) a second tube entering the top section of the heel part on the second side of the shoe, proceeding downward and forward along the inside of the upper to about the arch position, proceeding below the insole and crossing the shoe to the first side of the shoe; l) a shoe lace attached at a first end to the tightening lever on the first side of the shoe, proceeding through the first tube and out of the shoe to form a loop outside of the heel part, entering the second tube and proceeding out of the second tube with a second end of the shoe lace attached to the tightening lever on the second side of the shoe; and g) a plurality of hooks attached to outside of the heel part, whereby the shoes may be tightened by hooking the loop onto one of the plurality of hooks and thereby pulling the two flaps together.

This application claims the benefit of my Provisional Patent Application 60/771,698 filed on Feb. 10, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention pertains to shoes, and particularly to shoes where the shoelace passes through tubing inside the shoe so that the shoelace does not show at the throat of the shoe.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Almost all athletic shoes are made with shoelaces which are threaded through eyelets surrounding the sides of a split throat on a shoe and tied to bring together the sides and tighten the shoe onto a person's foot. This ubiquitous system has drawbacks Shoelaces must be tied and untied in order for the shoe to fit properly. After an extended period of usage the shoelace can break and require immediate replacement. Tying a shoe lace is time consuming and unwanted especially during athletic play—it might lead to an undesirable result for an individual or team. A loose or untied shoelace can result in a fall. Aesthetically, shoelaces do not add style or beauty of the shoe.

Several alternatives have been proposed to the conventional lacing to solve some of the drawbacks of the conventional lacing system. One alternative is to use loafer type shoes which do not require lacing. However many people prefer the extra support and containment offered by lace up shoes.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,387 discloses an automated tightening and loosening shoe with rigid, semi-rigid or flexible polymer bands functioning as laces, and a tightening mechanism which operates in one direction to cause automatic tightening of the rigid, semi-rigid or flexible polymer bands to tighten the automated tightening shoe and loosening shoe about a wearer's foot, and which operates in a reverse or loosening direction to cause automatic loosening of the rigid, semi-rigid or flexible polymer bands so that the automated tightening and loosing shoe can be removed from the wearer's foot.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,921 discloses a shoe having an ergometric shoe lace design. The laces pass through tubes on the tongue portion of the shoe and extend down to the sole of the shoe on either side of the shoe where they pass through tubes on or near the perimeter of the sole. The laces crisscross the foot in this manner to secure the foot from up and down motion in the shoe.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,128 discloses an automated tightening shoe with crisscrossed laces and a tightening mechanism which operates in one direction to cause automatic tightening of the crisscrossed laces to tighten the shoe about a wearer's foot, and which can be released easily so that the shoe can be removed from the wearer's foot.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,922,917 discloses a shoe having a canopy and laterally mounted tightening apparatus. The canopy has a fixed end attached to the shoe and a free end not attached to the shoe. The free end of the canopy has lobes (or the canopy is a plurality of straps) that are moveable relatively independently of each other such that a lace attached to a tightening apparatus and the free end of the canopy tightens the shoe allowing the free ends of the canopy to facilitate the canopy molding the foot of the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A shoe, including:

-   -   a) an upper, having an inside and an outside, and including a         toe box, a heel part, the heel part having a top section and a         bottom section, and a split throat, the split throat having two         flaps one on either side of the split throat;     -   b) a sole, having an arch position;     -   c) two tightening levers, one tightening lever on either flap of         the split throat;     -   d) a first tube entering the top section of the heel part on a         first side of the shoe, proceeding downward and forward along         the inside of the upper to about the arch position, and crossing         the shoe to a second side of the shoe;     -   e) a second tube entering the top section of the heel part on         the second side of the shoe, proceeding downward and forward         along the inside of the upper to about the arch position,         proceeding below the insole and crossing the shoe to the first         side of the shoe;     -   f) a shoe lace attached at a first end to the tightening lever         on the first side of the shoe, proceeding through the first tube         and out of the shoe to form a loop outside of the heel part,         entering the second tube and proceeding out of the second tube         with a second end of the shoe lace attached to the tightening         lever on the second side of the shoe; and     -   g) a plurality of hooks attached to outside of the heel part,         whereby the shoes may be tightened by hooking the loop onto one         of the plurality of hooks and thereby pulling the two flaps         together.

The shoe preferably includes padding around the inside of the upper, at least in the region from the heel to the arch position, and the first tube and second tube preferably proceed downward and forward between the padding and the inside of the upper. A preferred route for each of the tubes to traverse the shoe is through a passage through the sole. An alternative is for the shoe to include an insert above the insole of the shoe and for the tubes to cross the shoe between the insert and the insole. The tightening levers are preferably metal plate, and are firmly attached to the shoe by conventional means, such as riveting or using an adhesive. The tightening levers preferably have a hole near their center for attaching the ends of the shoelace. Alternatively there can be other conventional means for attaching the lace, such as a knob.

The shoe is used by releasing the lace from any of the hooks, putting a foot in the throat of the shoe, spreading apart the two flaps, pulling on the loop extending from the heel part until the shoe is tightly on the foot and attaching the loop to the nearest hook. It is an object of the invention to provide a shoe which has the advantages of lace up shoes without shoelaces laced outside the shoe.

The shoe is preferably an athletic shoe, though could be used on any shoe having padding, in which to imbed the tubes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment.

FIG. 1B is a top view of the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1A and 2A show a shoe 10 which is one preferred embodiment of the invention. The shoe has an upper 12, the upper having an inside 18 and an outside 13, a heel part 16, a split throat 45 having two flaps 47 and 49, one on either side of the split throat, a toe 14 two tightening levers 30 and 42, each tightening lever attached to the upper by rivets 23 and 25 respectively. The tightening levers are preferably metal, but could be hard plastic. Adhesive (not shown) may alternately be use to attach the tightening levers to the upper of the shoe. The shoe also has a sole 41, having an arch position 27, and includes an insert 28, above the insole (the insole is the uppermost part of the sole which is inside the shoe). The insert is a removable padded piece which fits above the insole. Inside of the shoe, on the inside of the upper the shoe has padding 35 which extends at least from the heel portion to the arch of the shoe. A first piece of tubing 34 enters the shoe at an upper portion of the heel part on one side of the shoe and proceeds inside of the padding downward and forward along the inside of the upper to about the arch position and then proceeds under the insert and across the shoe. A second piece of tubing 36 enters the shoe at an upper portion of the heel part on the other side of the shoe and proceeds inside of the padding downward and forward along the inside of the upper to about the arch position and then proceeds under the insert and across the shoe. The tubing is preferably a hard plastic, such as polyvinylchloride and have a diameter of about ¼ inch.

A shoe lace 44, has a first end 43 and a second end 40. The first end 43 is attached to the first tightening lever at point 32, which could be a hole through the lever and the upper of the shoe, or some other means of attachment such as a small knob to which the lace could be attached, proceeds to the opening of the first tube 34 at the arch position of the shoe, enters the tube and threads through the first tube to where the first tube exits at the heel. The lace exits the shoe at this point to form a loop 20 and reenters the shoe through the second tube 36 and is threaded through the second tube to the other end of the tube. The second end 40 of the shoelace 44 exits from second tube and is tied onto second tightening lever 44 at point 33.

The shoe has a number of hooks attached to the to the heel part of the upper. Three hooks 50,52, and 54 are shown in FIG. 1. There should be at least one hook, preferably 2 to 5 hooks and more preferably three hooks. The hooks are preferably metal and are attached to the shoe by conventional means.

The shoe is used by inserting a foot into the split throat of the shoe while the loop 20 is not engaged on a hook. When the foot is in the shoe the loop is pulled down until the two levers pull the flaps together sufficiently for a comfortable fit. The loop is then hooked on an appropriate hook.

FIG. 2 shoes a variation of the shoe shown in FIG. 1A. In this case a first piece of tubing 100 enters the shoe at an upper portion of the heel part on one side of the shoe and proceeds inside of the padding downward and forward along the inside of the upper to about the arch position and then enters a passage way 104 into the sole, which passageway crosses the sole, beneath the insole, to the other side of the shoe. A second piece of tubing 102 enters the shoe at an upper portion of the heel part on the other side of the shoe and proceeds inside of the padding downward and forward along the inside of the upper to about the arch position and then enters a passage way 106 into the sole, which passageway crosses the sole, beneath the insole, to the other side of the shoe. This variation preferably also has an insert 108 above the insole, though it is optional in this embodiment.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the preferred versions herein. 

1. A shoe, comprising: a) an upper, the upper having an inside and an outside, and comprising a toe box, a heel part, the heel part having a top section and a bottom section, and a split throat, the split throat having two flaps; b) a sole, having an arch position, an insole and an outer sole; c) two tightening levers, each tightening lever attached to the shoe, one on either flap of the split throat; d) a first tube entering the top section of the heel part on a first side of the shoe, proceeding downward and forward along the inside of the upper to about the arch position, and crossing the shoe to a second side of the shoe; e) a second tube entering the top section of the heel part on the second side of the shoe, proceeding downward and forward along the inside of the upper to about the arch position, and crossing the shoe to the first side of the shoe; f) a shoelace, one end of which is attached to the tightening lever on the first side of the shoe, the shoelace proceeding through the first tube and out of the shoe to form a loop outside of the heel part, the shoelace entering the second tube proceeding out of the second tube and a second end of the shoelace is attached to the tightening lever on the second side of the shoe; and g) a plurality of hooks attached to outside of the heel part, whereby the shoes may be tightened by hooking the loop onto one of the plurality of hooks and thereby pulling the two flaps together.
 2. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the sole defines two passages piercing down and into the sole, each passage traversing the shoe between the two sides of the shoe, wherein the first tube and the second tube each cross the shoe through one of the two passages.
 3. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the sole has an insole and an outsole and further comprises an insert above the insole, and wherein the fist tube and the second tube each cross the shoe between the insert and the insole.
 4. The shoe of claim 2, wherein the shoe comprises a pad on the inside of the upper and the first tube and second tube proceed downward and forward between the pad and the inside of the upper.
 5. The shoe of claim 3, wherein the shoe comprises a pad on the inside of the upper the first tube and second tube proceed downward and forward between the pad and the inside of the upper.
 6. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the first tube and the second tube consist of plastic.
 7. The shoe of claim 6, wherein the plastic is a hard plastic.
 8. The shoe of claim 7, wherein the plastic is polyvinyl chloride.
 9. The shoe of claim 7, wherein the two tightening levers consist of metal.
 10. The shoe of claim 9, wherein the two levers are each riveted to the shoe.
 11. The shoe of claim 2, further comprising an insert above the insole of the shoe.
 12. The shoe of claim 1 where the shoe is an athletic shoe. 